20 JULY 2.5, 1970 - , () ft "'-' , í ^ -- - .......... \0 L" '*" " .... -- '^ ,'", . ;:""'....., ,"" "^ . w ,w w - have been flattering, but it struck us as misguided. We have since done a bit of investigating and have found that a number of libraries are sending sim- ilar offers to authors all over the worJd. Now we find ourself imagining a time in the future-say, a hundred years from now-when the librarian of ,V oodyard discovers the Albert Smith Collection in his card catalogue. Sup- pose, for the moment, that It turns out that Smith failed to write any immortal works during his career. In that case, one thing our librarian might decide to do, of course, would be to throw the wholt collection in the incinerator (not a very nice prospect from Smith's point of view). However, another thing the librarian might decide to do-and it is this kind of thing that has us worried- would be to go ahead and hold a "ret- rospective" of Smith's works and let- ters anyway. Having hung on to the Smith Collection for a hundred years, waiting to see whether or not Smith's works would be posthumously recog- nized, the library might well consIder that it had a vested interest in making them recognized. In fact, wIth a hun- dred years to work at it, it might well manage to manufacture something of a reputation for Smith, much as a pub- lIsher can now manufacture something ..1 , ' rìfE() B/lRlrJ '. IS A BUJ.:t tv J' : t AI' , ... *" y '\. (2J ï\ / . .... , . ..I'....:-.. .. ....'."."' "'= , , :,: 'II:::' : . ".< w,-'>> '" ((Well, if you didn't do it, who did?" . . of a reputation for a living author by aggressively promoting his books. It is not entirely inconceivable that libraries and universities might hegin to promote the reputations of hundreds of mediocre works by deceased .::luthors, because by doing this they might be able to increase the financial value of their collectIons. (Such an attempt would be roughly analogous to the practice, already wide- spread among small countries seeking added revenue, of taking advantage of the market for rare stamps by issuing stamps specially for stamp collectors.) And if this were to happen, the marvel- lous and mysterious process by which a generation selects the best works of the preceding generations and transmits them to the generations that follow would become corrupted. In short, we are in danger of corrupting posterity. Needless to say, this is no trivial mat- ter. Scholars and readers, who now ha ve enough trouble picking their way through the junk of the present, might lose their bearings entirely if ambitious libraries began dumping the junk of the ages in their laps as well. There would be no end to the mischief. Professors might soon become confused, and force students to study worthless writings of the past. 'Vhole courses might be given on the life and works of Harold Rob- ^ .. . . &- - :.. ',:""" . ^.o ::. *' ;:: "- " .. '\ --- ...-"" bins and }\rthur Hailey. The wisdom of the past would be drowned in a flood of old best-sellers and old Inaga- zines. If this process went far enough, man might lose his heritage as the ani- mal that transmits knowledge from parent to offspring, and beCOlne the animal that transmits pieces of junk from parent to offspring. As we see it, libraries should leave young writers alone, and stop betting on them as though writers were horses, even If this means losing a few of the groce ry lists and love letters that the writers have yet to write. They would do bet- ter to concern themselves with w ha t has already been written, and let pos- terity shift for itself. Notes from the [Tndergroltnd F ATHER DANIEL BERRIGAN, S.J., prIze-wInnIng poet, peace actIVIst, and the first political-fugitive priest in our history, is alive and extraordinarily well in the underground. 'Ve went to see him recently at the home of some friends of his a few hours west of the Eastern seaboard. As he came to greet us, dressed in sandals, blue jeans, and a plaid sports shirt and carrying a volume of French SurrealIst poetry under hIs arm, we were struck by his exuberant